One chair was occupied by Connor Lord, wearing a white linen suit with a dark blue shirt and matching pocket square, loafers, and no socks. He slipped off a pair of sunglasses, folded the paper he was reading, placed it on the table, and stood. “Ms. Steers, welcome and thank you for making the journey to me.”
When he glanced quizzically at Nash, Steers said, “It is fine, Mr. Lord. Mr. Hope has my complete confidence and he is fully aware of mybusiness.”
“Yes, your worthy hero that you told me about previously. Please sit. Coffee, tea, water after your trip?”
They requested coffees. An attendant promptly brought them out and scurried back inside. Nash could not see but could sense the presence of watchful eyes everywhere.
He looked over to see Lord gazing keenly at him.
“You must be commended for serving your employer so ably, Mr. Hope. When I heard of the attack in Hong Kong I was quite distressed.”
“You have to be ready for anything, because one never knows,” replied Nash.
Lord nodded. “One indeedneverknows.” He turned to Steers. “I apologize for the delay. Your offer, I must admit, confounded me. So enticing a business prospect, and yet so unusual the stated price.”
“No, it is I who must apologize, Mr. Lord. I should have been more straightforward. You see, I require no more money in my life. My needs are amply taken care of and I have no one to leave my wealth to.”
“Nevertheless, the allure of fair market value has its obvious attractions, on many levels. Your generous spirit is evident. Thus, you could, for instance, demand a fair purchase price and then donate the proceeds to charity. That would amount to many billions. You would become, in one fell swoop, one of the greatest benefactors of humanity of all time.”
“I will allow you to do so, if you see fit,” she replied so immediately that Nash suspected she had anticipated this strategy by her opponent.
And then he realized what he was witnessing:
A real-life chess match between two grand masters.
And as good a businessman as Nash had been, he had to admit that he was out of his league now. He simply sat and watched.
“You would give me the credit?” said Lord. “How touching but, if I may speak frankly, it goes a bit against the bounds of human nature, does it not? Which compels one, again, to seek other rationalization for such an odd purchase priceandlikewise attendant behavior.”
“Then I will freely give you the rationalization ofboth.”
She pulled back the sleeve of one arm of her blouse and then the other, revealing the mass of damaged skin on each limb.
Nash shot Lord a glance to see the man’s reaction. Though Lord was mostly stone-faced, Nash caught just a glimmer of revulsion, perhaps even of horror. But not pity, or empathy.
Steers said, “Two attempts have been made on my life, at least serious ones that almost succeeded. My plane was blown out of the sky, killing my father and leaving me like this. Which is why I told you I have literally walked through fire.” She then lifted the scarf from around her neck. “And this was the second attempt,” she said, pointing to the scar on her skin. “But for Mr. Hope’s intervention, I would not be alive to have any business to sell.”
“Those events must have been terrible to endure,” Lord said, again without a trace of sympathy.
“Theywereterrible to endure. And they also provided great impetus to find another direction in life. For in my case the third time may not be the charm, but the end of me.”
“But the connection to the price and what you could do with the—”
She did not allow him to finish. “But youmustconcede that I clearly lack the outward legitimacy that you enjoy, Mr. Lord, as a friend and advisor to many of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as an able partner to rulers and political leaders in myriad countries. Your public persona has been expertly crafted, and you are held in esteem by many. So wereyouto make such an enormous donation to worthy causes as you suggested I do, the media would rejoice and hail you as a magnanimous benefactor. I, on the other hand, as a suspected criminal agent who should be behind bars and would be but for lack of sufficient evidence, would be publicly eviscerated. My money would be deemed blood money and thus unacceptable. It would also lead to even more enemies on both sides of the equation that I do not need at this stage in my life. As to the lowered purchase price, it is true thatIrequested only one dollar, but that ismycompensation, as I was clear with you about. The second part of the negotiation, which is the reason I came here today, will be for you to take part of what would be the fair market value of the business and give it to my partners as compensation for what they will no doubt see as my abandoning them.”
Lord looked impressed. “Thus forestalling still more enemies?”
“The rationalization now leaps from the mind, does it not?” she said smoothly.
“So it only falls to what percentage would go to them?”
“I will allow you to make an offer on that. And that is also why I agreed to journey here today. I felt, in all fairness to you, that such terms should be discussed through a face-to-face meeting.”
“Perhaps you will help me put together a thoughtful and mutually beneficial offer?”
“Which will forestall future enemies for yourself?” she noted. “Quite strategic of you.”
“We will agree to agree on that point.”
